Those familiar with the tobacco art and the correlative pipe apparatus are well aware of the fact that the smoke or fumes generated as a result of smoking rare and expensive tobaccos are characteristically harsh, hot and quite irritating to the lungs of the smoker. Within recent years, water pipes have become increasingly popular as a means for alleviating the aforenoted drawbacks of prior art pipe apparatus. In accordance with conventional water pipe apparatus, the smoke is conducted through a water chamber defined within the pipe so as to simultaneously filter the smoke with respect to any ash deposits or other contaminants present therein, as well as to cool the smoke. As a result, the adverse effects of the smoke are considerably mitigated and the smoking experience tends to be quite pleasurable.
A primary disadvantage characteristic of such conventional water pipes, however, has proven to be the fact that as the water chamber is the primary means employed for accomplishing the aforenoted cleansing process with respect to the ash and contaminant deposits present within the smoke and fumes, the filtering liquid tends to become rapidly contaminated with ash deposits and other combustion by-products. A need therefore exists with respect to conventional water pipe apparatus for the provision of a primary ash deposit filtering means or receptacle, wholly separate and distinct from the cooling liquid chamber, whereby substantial amounts of ash deposits, for example, can be removed from the smoke and fumes prior to the passing of the same through the water or liquid chamber. The primary function of the liquid chamber would then be the cooling of the smoke, with some residual or secondary ash and contaminant filtering.
Another disadvantage of such prior art water pipes is that although such pipes do in fact provide a liquid chamber in an attempt to cool the smoke and fumes, either the volume of the cooling chamber, or more particularly, the flow path for the smoke defined within the cooling chamber, is insufficient for in fact achieving such cooling. Consequently, the smoke inhaled by the smoker remains insufficiently cooled and is quite irritating to the smoker's throat and lung passages.
Lastly, it has also been observed that in conjunction with conventional water pipes and particularly the bong variety thereof, there is presently no provision within such conventional pipes for means which is capable of periodically supplying a predetermined amount of fresh tobacco to the smoking bowl of the apparatus in order to replenish consumed tobacco. A need therefore exists, for example, for a semi-automatic device which would be manually manipulative in order to obviate the requirement of the smoker to ordinarily interrupt his smoking activity for a substantial period of time so as to otherwise accomplish the tobacco replenishment task.